the anatomy of love [BxB] COMPLETED

Epilogue

Wes's hands grip the steering wheel tightly, and he doesn't look at Jackson. His face grows paler as they continue to drive. Jackson doesn't know what to say.

But that's not really his fault. Jackson's never met the parents before, let alone when the parents are really just the mother because the father was an asshole who kicked his only son out because he was gay and the mother now has Alzheimer's and cannot remember her son.

And Jackson thought his family life was less than ideal...

Just thinking about what Wes must have gone through makes Jackson feel a rush of gratitude towards his parents, who embrace him for who he is totally and completely (although Elena would have something to say about his lack of help in doing the dishes). He even feels grateful that his parents were able to divorce as smoothly as possible, and that Jackson has a great relationship with both of them.

Wes didn't really want Jackson to come along and see his mother, but Jackson insisted. Clearly Wes struggled to see her, to say her name and be looked on as a stranger. Jackson isn't sure how Wes and his mother reunited later in his life, and how Wes managed to forgive her. He knows in time Wes will be able to talk about it, that sometimes it's difficult to share a deep pain with another person, especially a person you love, if you can't even acknowledge it yourself.

While Jackson definitely wants to be a shoulder for Wes to lean on, he's partly tagging along for his own admittedly selfish reason; he wants to spend as much time with Wes before leaving for Winter Break.

The last few weeks have been incredible, and Jackson doesn't want them to end. He's spent so much time with Wes and he's now great friends with Hunter again and his team got to the quarterfinals and lost in a close but well played game. It's been almost too good to be true.

While he's always excited to return home, where his family and friends live and where the weather is always sunny, Jackson doesn't want to part from Wes for those long three weeks.

"We're here," Wes says, so quiet that Jackson isn't sure he heard correctly. They pull into what looks like a gated community. A security guard nods at Wes like he knows him, and they pass through to a well groomed parking lot lined with rose bushes and tall trees. Wes must be paying a fortune to have his mom cared for here, and it warms Jackson's heart to think that Wes never even mentions it.

They walk up a sidewalk and into a lobby, where Wes nods to the receptionist, who smiles not unsympathetically, but with a mystical calmness that suggests everything will be alright even when it's not.

She says to Wes as they pass by, "She's in the courtyard."

The entire care facility is one floor for easier access and transportation. One end of the building houses those who are still mostly physically and mentally able. The other end houses those with extreme dementia and other handicaps that demand around the clock care. Both ends act as housing facilities as well as hospitals if needed.

In the middle connecting both sides is a beautiful courtyard with flowers and trees lining the perimeters and a bubbling fountain in the center. A few benches scatter the flattened grass along gentle pathways, and Wes leads Jackson to one situated in front of the fountain, where an elderly woman with thick grey hair pulled back in a ponytail sits with a vague smile, an embroidered white blanket pulled up over her waist.

Wes sits down next to her, and Jackson stands beside him, unsure what to do.

"Hey mom," Wes says softly, taking his mother's hand. She turns to him slowly, and her eyes linger on his face. Her expression does not change. Jackson didn't realize how far along she would be.